9 points to cover in a solid LTCI sales presentation

By Vanessa De La Rosa

In her MDRT focus session, “What you need to know NOW to stay in the LTC insurance market,” Phyllis Shelton noted the number-one concern for LTCI buyers and non-buyers: People care more about not becoming a burden to their families than they do about protecting their assets.

When she was selling LTCI in 1988, the objection she often heard from prospects was, “My kids will take care of me.” In many cases, their kids did take care of them, but incurred a heavy burden by doing so. Those kids are today’s clients, and the last thing they want is for their own children to ever feel that same burden.

The best way to start a sales interview is asking the client about their personal long-term care experience. How did caregiving impact the family emotionally, physically and then, financially? Producers need to highlight that the emotional strain is the most burdensome, and then reframe the way they create images in their clients’ minds.

Here are nine main points to cover in a solid LTCI sales presentation, as highlighted in Shelton's session.

1. The consequences of not having a plan can be catastrophic. “Long-term care can be one of the most traumatic experiences a family will ever face without proper planning and is the one major health expense for which nearly all Americans are uninsured.”

2. What kind of care to expect. Over 85 percent of LTC is in-home, and less than 15 percent is in a nursing home.

3. It’s not just for older people. Over 40 percent of people in need of LTC are under the age of 65. Recall emotional examples of people you know — preferably, mutually known people or friends.

4. The average cost of care. Express the cost of care per year, using an outline of 10 hours of home/facility care a day, as it is in your city or area.

5. Where costs are going. Costs of LTC are expected to triple in the next 20 years.

7. Out-of-pocket costs. Most long-term care expenses are paid out-of-pocket, or Medicaid covers costs only after a person has paid most of them up-front. As an alternative, one could purchase a long-term care partnership policy,and use a state-approved private policy first and Medicaid only as a safety net. (This option, of course, is no help if you aren’t selling a partnership policy or if you don’t reside in a partnership-participating state.)

8. Odds of using the policy are high. 1 out of 3 people will have to make a LTC claim.

9. Ask this question: “Do you see any reason why you wouldn’t want to protect yourself and your family from such a great risk if you can find an affordable way to do so?”

Shelton says that people usually get turned off when she says she sells long-term care insurance. Instead, she says:

“I help people plan for extended episodes of health care that would cause them to have to reply on their kids or other members for care.”